"Some of the guys are heading out tonight, come with?" Dolph shrugged nonchalantly, he didn't really feel like going out, not at all really. "Please, it'll be fun, really." Punk asked him, looking at him hopefully, he knew Punk wanted to go out, he'd been stuck on babysitting him duty and hadn't been able to hang out with his other friends, and this was a good opportunity to catch up, but Dolph knew Punk didn't want to leave him alone. Dolph gave him a look and sighed, defeated. Not having the will to argue. "Whatever..." Dolph grumbled, earning him a shaky smile from Punk. "You're gonna have to get dressed then, think you can handle that?" he asked with a faint smile. Dolph looked at himself and sighed, a little in defeat. "Yeah." He said blankly, getting to his feet and wondering over to his bag to get changed. He was pretty sure he could handle that.
It was in no time that they were in the bar, sitting at a booth with a few other superstars. He still didn't really want to be there. It was making him a bit bitter. These guys could still go out and perform, do what they loved while he was stuck doing nothing, not able to do anything. He downed the rest of his glass of whiskey and crossed his arms over his chest, staring off into the distance, trying to ignore the group of men that he didn't like. Punk gave him a soft nudge, drawing his attention to him. "You okay there, Blondie?" he asked concerned, probably thinking that all of this would help him, this socialising. "I'm fine." He spoke quietly, and there was a slight slur in his words due to the amount of alcohol he'd consumed already. "You've barely said a word the whole night! I'm surprised from you, Ziggler! I thought you would've been all...talky and stuff!" Cena said looking at him with a fairly happy expression on his face, he was obviously as drunk as he was and his words, although intended to be friendly, earned him a glare from Dolph. "Well, maybe that's because I don't want to be all talky with you." He snorted, rolling his eyes. Cena pouted at him although he could tell it wasn't real. "Come on! Open up a little, none of us here bite! Much." He chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows, causing Dolph to scowl even further at him. "Yeah! Come on, we know like nothing about you, dude and you know like everything about us." Orton joined in on the pestering. He really didn't like these guys. "Like no one even really suspected that you're gay. Is that a recent thing or what? You just wake up one day and decided you like dudes?" Dolph stiffened; this wasn't a conversation he wanted to be having. "No." he replied curtly, flagging down a waiter for another drink. "So you've known for ages? Ever been in a relationship, surely you've got some stories, open up some more!" Cena grinned happily at him, obviously unaware of his discomfort. He held his hands under the table, not wanting the shaking in his hands to be obvious. He had to stay calm. "Maybe I don't want to open up to you, Cena. It's no secret that I don't exactly like you." He snapped taking another drink as it arrived. Cena just laughed it off, which somehow irritated him even more. "Come on! You don't even know me! Still pining over someone? Is that why you're all snappy all the time?" Dolph was ready to wipe that stupid grin off his damn face. "Mind your own fucking business!" Cena just laughed, shaking his head. "That confirms it, man. You totally miss your ex." A bitter laugh left him before he had time to think about it, to stop it. "You can't make assumptions like that, you don't even know me." Punk seemed to look even more uncomfortable than Dolph felt, clearly not liking watching this confrontation, or whatever it was. Cena just laughed at him, reaching over to slap his back in a friendly way, making Dolph hiss at him, although it went unseen by the other man. He took another long drink from his glass of whiskey, figuring that being drunk would make being with these people a little more tolerable. Plus drinking was always good, it let him forget for a little bit, made the fear go away a little. Punk ruffled his hair, the way he did and Dolph looked at him questioning, wondering why. "Take it easy, Blondie, 'kay?" he asked, eying him worriedly. Dolph shrugged at him and downed the remainder of his drink. "Whatevs." His voice was already a little more slurred. "So...this relationship, how long was it?" Cena was insistent. He had no idea what Cenas' issue was, and why he wanted to know, and he hated the fact he was prying into places he certainly didn't want to be pried. "Five years." He answered curtly, flagging for yet another drink; they'd probably stop serving him soon. Cena looked at him with a shocked expression. "Wow, Ziggler...never thought you'd be one to settle down...commitment and all that. Long time." He actually looked a little impressed and Dolph felt his stomach turn. "I know." He said shortly, wanting the subject to be dropped already. Punk gave him a small confused look but Dolph just scowled. "So...why'd it get broken off? Life on the road too much?" Cena seemed genuinely curious now, and that only lead him to be more uncomfortable. "I dunno...didn't work or something anymore...had enough." Dolph shrugged, really not wanting to breach this, tensing up, his hands shaking a little more. "Had enough? Of what?" this was just annoying now. Dolph shrugged his shoulders and downed his current drink. "I dunno...of him I guess." He muttered, unsure of why he was even answering. "Of him? That seems pretty harsh?" Another bitter laugh escaped Dolph's mouth and he tried to stifle it with another drink. "Not harsh. Not harsh at all. He was an a-hole." He snorted and tried to drop the topic, at least before he started to shake even worse or until panic got a little too much. Cena finally seemed satisfied and he left him alone, much to his relief, although the looks Punk was giving him make him more than slightly uneasy. So he resolved to get even drunker, letting the alcohol just take him away.
Punk helped him stumble back onto the bus, his own limbs not really wanting to work. He was probably being moved more by Punk than himself. He giggled softly and Punk helped him onto his couch, sitting down at the other end of it, eying him warily. Dolph sighed happily and stared at Punk, grinning a little. Punk laughed slightly, and he figured it had to be because of the goofy expression that was surely on his face. "Cena was right you know, five years is a pretty long time, I didn't expect that from you either." Punk brought up, killing the look on Dolph's face to something more reserved, and he tried to organise his limbs enough to move slightly, looking away from him as he grumbled at him. "What? Coz I like to fuck around with women it means I'm incapable of a long-term relationship?" he was pretty sure he said, although no doubt the words didn't come out quite right. "Why do you fuck around with women? If you like men then why women?" Dolph grumbled at him starting to get intrusive. "I'm drunk, you really wanna ask me shit now?" he rolled his eyes again, and Punk just nodded. "Yup, you're drunk so I'm asking you shit because then maybe you won't freak out on me." Dolph just grumbled at him again but then he chuckled slightly, his drunkenness seeing the logic in that. "Sleep with women because can't sleep with men." He yawned, moving to put his head on Punk's lap, grinning up at him again, snuggling into him a little. "Why? Because of your ex? Miss him?" Dolph laughed at him, at the thought. "Don't miss him, well sometimes, but no. Because of him though, yeah. Can't have sex with men, coz that hurts, I like men, but I'm not gonna have sex with them if it hurts." He looked at Punk like he was silly for not knowing that, because heck, it wasn't exactly a secret that Punk was gay, surely he knew that it hurt, well, if he was a bottom anyway, but he'd know either way, or at least he should. Punk looked at him puzzled. "Sex doesn't hurt, Dolph. It shouldn't, it feels good...for both people." Dolph shook his head, snuggling into him further but not believing him. "No it doesn't. It's not meant to feel good, it's supposed to hurt. Meant to teach you a lesson." He voice got quieter, almost whispering up at him, almost scared to talk about it. Punk stared at him, digesting his words and his hands started to thread through Dolph's hair gently. "...Is that what your ex did, Dolph? Hurt you on purpose?" Punk spoke quietly, not wanting to startle the man and wanting him to keep talking, opening up. Maybe that would mean he'd be able to help him. It was silent for a moment and he wondered if Dolph had retreated back into his shell. But then he felt Dolph nodding against him and he began shaking, for a second Punk thought he was having another panic attack, but it quickly became obvious it was just out of fear, not even able to say it out loud, even though there was no danger anymore. It was imprinted on his brain, hopefully not permanently, that talking about it would be bad, that keeping it secret was what was best, that it would anger him less. "He liked to hurt me." He whispered quietly, shutting his eyes tightly, as if that would stop him from appearing. Punk held onto him tighter, one of his hands still moving through his hair soothingly. "Can't hurt you anymore, I'm here, I won't let anyone hurt you, you know that." He spoke softly, not wanting to startle him. Again he felt Dolph nod against him. Punk didn't push for anything more, still trying to digest what he'd already found out, and it explained a lot.
After a while Dolph fell into a fitful sleep, still snuggled up on Punk's lap, but he was still wide awake. He stared down at the man softly, actually feeling a little sorry for him, no wonder the dude seemed to have problems. He sighed and tried to shift him off him, but he got grumbles and he was held tighter, obviously the man didn't want him to go, even in sleep. He didn't really want to stay where he was so he awkwardly managed to get a hold of Dolph and he stood up, Dolph in his arms, awkwardly managing to get them back towards the bed area. Gently he set the younger man down on the bed, tucking him under the covers, instantly he snuggled into a pillow, mumbling something in his sleep, clearly displeased by Punk's replacement. After a moment of hesitation he wondered if he should join him in bed, clearly the other man hadn't wanted to part with him, but then, now knowing what he knew, he wondered what would happen in the morning, whether he would freak out finding himself in bed with another man. But seeing the man frown and start to whimper in his sleep his mind was made up, he slipped into bed and soon felt the warm arms of the blonde around him, clinging to him and seemingly starting to relax. Punk smiled softly and moved around to get comfortable, resisting the little whines of protest. His fingers found Dolph's hair again, a soothing and comforting action, wanting the man to sleep easier, and it seemed it was working. Dolph muttered something in his sleep, somehow still managing to sound a little drunk and buried his face against Punk's chest. Punk willed himself to relax and to sleep, but like most nights, it wasn't happening.
A couple of hours passed, Dolph clinging to the tattooed man who still couldn't sleep, he thought maybe it was because he wasn't used to sleeping with another person in his bed. The blonde man seemed pretty content in his sleep, muttering happily occasionally, but as the night ticked on, rather slowly for Punk, Dolph started to stir. Eventually his baby blue eyes open, locking onto Punk's face in confusion, wondering for a moment why he was in Punk's bed. "Hey." Punk said softly, being cautious, not wanting to spook him. "...Hey..." Dolph replied, squirming a little bit, the wide eyed stare he was getting from the man uneased him a little. "Do you want me to leave?" Dolph whispered softly. Punk shook his head, looking at Dolph "Nah, I don't mind, stay if you want, you're comfy." Punk still spoke softly, wanting him to feel okay about this, that he didn't have to leave if he didn't want to. Dolph nodded, seemingly relieved, he wanted to stay there, it was warm and nice, it was cozy, and he felt much safer than he thought was a good idea. Dolph shuffled a little bit away from him, creating some space, and Punk playfully pouted at him. "What? Do I smell or something?" he joked, actually sort of missing the warmth from the other man. Dolph rolled his eyes and shook his head, having moved away because he didn't want to invade the others space and he didn't want to anger him. "Seriously, when was the last time you had a shower?" Dolph joked with him, glad that this wasn't causing any problems and that this friendliness was continuing even when they were like this. A small fear was still in the back of his mind though, the little nagging that he shouldn't let his guard down, or that Punk was going to try something with him. Punk would hurt him, just like he did. This was just a way of making Dolph let him in. An act. This was all a lie, and that part of his mind was mentally preparing him for the time it was all exposed.